Mamak restaurants are something of a pure Malaysian tradition.Everyone we know goes to a mamak and practically has become a part of our lives. I spend some time in a mamak during every working day to have my cup of coffee or tea. A few days ago i was having my evening tea and one of the workers of my regular mamak was a little free as there were few customers in the shop.

If you too are like me, you would have noticed that a large majority of workers in these mamak restaurants are of Indian nationality. Have you ever spoken to them about how they ended up working here doing what they are doing?? I did and to my surprise the worker told me how it all happened.

While speaking to the worker he told me that he was a painter back in India where he used to earn about RM18 a day for about 6 hour job. With that kind of money he could live a decent life with the relatively low cost of living. He pays about 20cents for a cup of tea(i pay RM1.20), he pays about RM150 for his terrace house(i pay close to 1k) so he has a decent life back in India.

He then was approached by a agent who gets workers for various countries around the world so the locals can go and earn themselves a better living for himself and his family. This particular worker choose Malaysia why?

- Opportunity to work in a 5 star hotel

- Good accommodation

- Good salary that will be increased/reviewed every 6 months

- Full documentation

- Ease of getting paper work done

- Fixed working hours(12hours max)

This was a good offer with the worker having to come up with the initial fee of RM8500 to arrange for the papers,flight & job. Most workers sell their family properties to raise the money to come to countries like Malaysia. There is a rate for the other countries and since Malaysia is one of the cheapest, they often opt to come here.

After raising the money, they then pay the money to these agents to start the paper work and to get them to the land of opportunities…Malaysia

This particular worker had to part with his parents, wife and children in hope of earning more for their future. Upon arriving here in Malaysia, he was brought to a restaurant where he was going to work. With a shocked to their gut when the reality was revealed.

- Job in a mamak shop

- Given a small apartment to live in together with 10 other workers(horrid conditions)

- RM 25 daily sallary

- Permit that takes about a 6months to a year to arrive

- Paper work done by the mamak employer

- Work from the time the mamak opens till closing time

Harsh? well it doesnt stop there! They are constantly given a hard time by the customers who scream,rude and dont respect them as human beings! These guys have got to live through 3 years minimum as they dont have a choice unless they wanted to constantly be on the run. Then there are the certain blue shirt personal who constantly are on their backs to do their “surprise checks” and collect the little earnings they have or conveniently having meals without paying for them.

This worker also told me that his family do not know of his misery as he didnt want to burden them with the thoughts of his suffering here. Then i asked him about how he sends back money to his family? He takes loans,borrows money and its a constant struggle to even survive in this conditions.

He is waiting for his permit period to expire so he can go back home and be with his family again. He claims that the lessons learn here has thought him a great deal but the hardship is something he never thought he would ever go through. Just like him apparently all the workers have exactly the same story to tell and its the con job in luring these foreign workers into low paying jobs. Its modern day slavery in my view!

Yes there are these agents who make a lot of money and are based at the home country of the workers however what is being done at a local level to curb this? Aren’t these workers human too and don’t they deserve a little more than the heart ache they are going through? What if it happened to you?

I was truly ashamed at this happening here in Malaysia! I would have thought that we are a little more considered than this?? Looks like we are not as considerate as i thought we are!

I also heard that this is a bad situation however there are worst of this nature which i will blog about when i get more information!

The next time you go to a mamak, show some compassion for the workers! They are not all here by choice and they are human beings too! Give them some respect and let them at least feel welcomed here in Malaysia!

I really would like to know if the government has got some controls over this foreign workers issue? Are the restaurants audited that the workers are treated with more respect? Are they earning minimum wages?

Im shocked and i pray the situation gets better…Imagine this happening to you!

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